'Lexie's Gift' a cookbook by a kid with cancer for kids with cancer

Thursday

Mar 20, 2014 at 12:11 AMMar 20, 2014 at 8:30 AM

Lexie Williams, 16, learned patience during nine years of treatments for brain cancer that began at age 3 months. But she is especially proud of a different accomplishment – writing a cookbook for kids with cancer.

Jody Feinberg The Patriot Ledger

Lexie Williams, 16, learned patience during nine years of treatments for brain cancer that began at age 3 months. But she is especially proud of a different accomplishment – writing a cookbook for kids with cancer.

“I’m so proud that the book is done and I finally have it in my hands,” said Lexie, who will speak and sign books Sunday at the North and South Rivers Association’s Green Gardening Expo in Scituate. “It’s taken so long, and I’ve had to be so patient. When I finally saw it, I was speechless.”

“Lexie’s Gift: A Cookbook for Kids Living with Cancer” is exactly what she envisioned – a book with attractive photographs and recipes for healthy, tasty food. From her own experience, she knew that her audience could be tough to satisfy, since their treatments may have left them with oversensitive or deadened taste buds, nausea, mouth sores, constipation, diarrhea, loss of appetite and exhaustion.

Of the cookbooks for people with cancer, few are geared toward children. And this may be the only one written from a child’s perspective. Lexie’s voice defines the cookbook, which became her mission after she became involved in the Magical Moon Foundation. Located on a farm in Marshfield, the organization supports children with cancer, who become “knights” and take on a mission.

“My mission is ... that all kids diagnosed with cancer can change the way they eat to fight their cancer,” wrote Lexie, who lives in Lakeville and is a sophomore at Northbrook Academy in Middleboro. “Some recipes boost our immune systems, some provide energy, some lift our spirits, some settle our stomachs or soothe our worries, and all just plain taste good.”

Lexie, who loves to cook, took on the challenge because she was frustrated by other cancer cookbooks.

“Those books had things that weren’t tasty for me and things I never would eat,” she said. “I decided I would write a book with lots of things kids would eat.”

Professionally designed and photographed, and co-written with natural health care practitioner Mark Mincolla of Cohasset, the cookbook was just a dream until three years ago. That changed when Donna Green, founder of the Magical Moon Foundation, met cookbook author Georgia Manzo Joachim at her book signing during a Maine house tour. After hearing Green talk about Lexie and her mission, Joachim volunteered to develop recipes and take photographs for the book. Also moved by Lexie’s mission, freelance graphic designer Jean Cousins of Portland cut her rate in half and donated many hours of her time.

With advice from Mincolla, Joachim created recipes that replace processed sugar with coconut crystals or nectar and which have no yeast, vinegar, fermented foods, egg yolks or dairy other than ghee. These restrictions are based on the belief that sugar and fermentation causes cancer cells to grow.

To test the recipes, Lexie invited other “knights” of the Magical Moon to two tasting days, and she made the recipes with her schoolmates in a weekly cooking class she teaches.

Lexie is particularly happy that she insisted that the cookbook be visually appealing and easy to use for children. In addition to color photographs of the food artfully displayed in attractive serving ware, each recipe highlights its fruits and vegetables in yellow, orange, red or green type.

“When I open up a cookbook, I look at the pictures first and I had to push to get pictures for every recipe,” said Lexie, who has a grade 2 optic pathway hypothalamic astrocytoma. “And I wanted the print big because my vision has been affected and that’s true for a lot of children with brain tumors.”

One of Lexie’s favorite dinners is Twirly Tuna Pasta, which has low glycemic or gluten-free rotini, chia seeds, parsley and green beans. A soothing snack is the bing cherry smoothie, which mixes cherries with rice or almond milk, silken tofu and coconut nectar. A feel-good dessert is the chocolate pumpkin cupcake, which has coconut crystals, ghee, egg whites, rice or soy milk, whole-wheat pastry flour and spelt flour.

“Whenever I make desserts for my friends, I don’t tell them there is no sugar,” she said. “When I tell them, they are surprised. Even though it’s called a kids cancer cookbook, anyone can eat from it because the food is good.”

Jody Feinberg may be reached at jfeinberg@ledger.com or follow her on Twitter @JodyF_Ledger.